How to locate Surface Area Configuration in SQLServer2008/R2/2012?

How to locate Surface Area Configuration Tool  in SQLServer2008/R2/2012?

Surface Area Configuration is a security tool in SQLServer to disable/enable certain Server level (xpcmdshell, Remote DAC,SQLMail...)components. In SQLServer2005 you can directly open it under Configuration Tools but starting from SQL2008 and higher versions it is embedded in Facets.

What is Facet?

Facets is the property of SQL Server which the policy will consider managing. There are several facets on which policies could be implemented. For example, we will use the “Database Option” facet to implement a policy which will ensure that the AutoShrink option should be TRUE for all hosted databases on the server. Similarly, we will be creating policies on the Stored Procedure facet

Example: how to enable xpcmdshell through SAC in SQLserver2008?

1. Connect to SQLServer through SSMS
2. Right click on SQLServer
3. Click on Facets
4. On view Facets page select Surface Area Configuration from drop down list
5. Got to XPCmdShellEnabled property and type “True” and click ok.